


a fraction of his smile

by PuriPuki



Series: blessed be the boys time can't capture [7]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Autistic Cynthia, Character Study, F/M, Minor Character Death, vague original characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 13:12:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8752891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuriPuki/pseuds/PuriPuki
Summary: Gaius is very bad at telling stories about princesses. Cynthia forgives him for it.





	

Her mother often took her to the botanical gardens in Ylisse when she was young. She would show Cynthia all the different kinds of flowers, from ones that would grow in her own backyard to the ones that grew only in the desert plains of Plegia or in the lush forests of Roseanne. Every Saturday, Sumia would bring her while Gaius "worked". Afterwards, they would visit the castle and Cynthia would play with Morgan and Marc and Lucina for a few hours before heading home for the evening.    
  
Her father would entertain her with stories while her mother cooked dinner, often of the daring feats of a ginger haired hero who saved the commonpeople from an evil monster. Cynthia thrived off of these stories, even more so than the ones of princesses and romance her mother would tell. They would eat dinner together, and Cynthia would tire out not long after. Her mother would braid her long hair before bed, tell her a story for bedtime, do a flower divination if she was being fussy, and sleep until the sun was up again.    
  
Routines were important to her. Her parents willingly complied, and managed to have structured lives despite the raging war. 

  
Her clearest memory of her mother is the day before she leaves to fight, when she's six, maybe seven. Sumia presses a spearhead in her hands, dull and unpolished, careful to make as little skin to skin touch as possible, and tells her, "When mommy comes back from fighting, I'll make you your own spear so you can fight too, okay?" Cynthia keeps the lump of metal with her at all times, waiting for the day when her mother will return and help her craft her own spear.    
  
She doesn't really understand why her father is crying when her aunt Cordelia brings her home that afternoon, but knows that something has happened. She hears murmurs of “dead” and “I’m so sorry”. He gives her a necklace; a simple chain with a gold ring as a pendant. He tells her that her mother is going to be gone for a very long time, but that he'll still be there and will still tell her stories and everything.    
  
Gaius is very bad at telling stories about princesses. Cynthia forgives him for it.    
  
Her eighth birthday is the worst by far. Her father has to go, says he has to fight in the war like Mommy is. She goes to stay with Lucina and Morgan and Marc in the castle in the meantime, and eagerly awaits for the day she can return to her home in the country side.    
  
She doesn't want to fight like Lucina does, not yet - she has to wait for her mom to come back to make her spear. Lucina, two years her senior, tells her that her mother isn't coming back, that Sumia is gone for good, but she doesn't listen to her. Cynthia knows her mother - she'll be back. One day.    
  
A week before her tenth birthday, her uncle Chrom and aunt Robin go to Plegia. Five days later, word comes of their deaths with the vanishing of Morgan and Marc. Lucina is devastated. Word also comes of her father's death.    
  
She cries for days. It's finally sunk in - gone means dead. Dead means never coming back. The revelation is devastating, perhaps as much as the loss of her parents is for Lucina too. Cynthia never enjoyed hugs or any intimate touch, but finds herself craving her father’s arms around her at least once. Lissa tries to comfort her, but it’s in vain. She adds his wedding ring to her necklace and cuts her hair short with a pair of sewing scissors. Lissa scolds her for it, but she can feel no shame for the locks on the bathroom floor through the tears in her eyes. 

  
The few of the Pegasus Knights who are still alive visit her frequently. Tell her extravagant stories of what her mother was like - a hero, saving people and believing that all people can be saved. They being to instruct her before their own eventual deaths, and she becomes self taught. One of them, Marta, introduces her to Bellfire. Sumia's steed.    
  
They are inseparable from that day on.    
  


Others visit the castle too- people touched by the previous Exalt’s life. People who received kindness from the Queen. Cynthia receives visits and small pouches of candies from thieves, saying that they're friends of her father’s. They ask her to put the candy near Gaius’s grave and she does not tell them that his body has already been burned. 

  
She's fourteen when they hatch the plan. Go find Gules and Azure, bring them back, and we can perform the awakening. Simple enough. Kjelle leads them, Cynthia is their eyes in the skies with Nah, and Noire provides assistance form the ground. Kjelle scolds her for her tendency to get distracted and wander off course, but this wandering leads them to the safe house in the forest holding Gules. 

  
When they return, they find that things are not going according to plan. Inigo's group could only get one gem back, the other was destroyed. Naga says the Awakening is no longer an option. But, going back in time is.    
  
They fight. Kjelle tells her that she's pathetic, wanting to play at Family with pretend parents. She's two steps away from slinging fists, teeth bared, when Laurent stops her. A quake hails more risen. Cynthia and Noire take to the skies on Bellfire, while Gerome brings Lucina to Grima's nape. They fight. They almost lose.    
  
When they return to the village that same night, everything is in flames. Cynthia decides to stay away from the flames and watches over Nah, who is still unconscious. The stench of burning bodies is not unfamiliar, but it brings about uneasiness in her stomach without fail. 

 

She talks with Nah, that night. Confesses her worries about going to the past, wondering, "What if they don't love me?" She never really knew them, having very few memories of them - what if they aren't as kind as she thinks? What if they scold her for her ‘unusual intolerances’?

 

  
Nah asks her, "Would that stop you from being a hero? Whatever you say to that, you have your answer."   
  


Nothing will ever stop her from being a hero. 

  
She lands in Valm. A podunk town where someone claims to be Chrom - she doesn't really remember him that well. Cynthia takes his word for it, does what he says.    
  
This is one of her downfalls. She is too gullible, Severa always said so, and teased her frequently. The sun is high in the afternoon sky when the village is bustling with fear and the heavy footsteps of war-torn soldiers. She discovers that her Chrom isn't the real one, but more importantly, her mother is telling her so.  _ Her mother _ .

  
She is reunited with Owain, who tells her that they are yet to be reunited with the rest of the justice cabal. Kjelle and Lucina and Inigo and Brady are with her too, as she wanders the camp in awe of the plentifulness they have. She’s even more in awe when Robin tells her that it’s the middle of the war time. Cynthia’s biggest delight is that the kitchen staff willingly cook a small portion of her favorite food - chicken noodle soup sans chicken with recently baked bread. She feared her pickiness would eventually cause problems, as the war went on longer and rations became necessary, but for now she was pleased that the chefs didn’t mind making noodle soup every day.

 

She gets to know her parents. They’re kind, gentle with her, though sometimes it seems like she exhausts them a little bit - it figures. They haven't had to deal with five year old her yet. Her mother seems to already be a natural at mothering, always tiptoeing the line between The Best Mom Ever and too willing to give into her daughter. Gaius struggles longer than Sumia, and she tells him as much. He figures it out eventually, with a bit of guidance from Chrom, and Cynthia will join him on trips into the nearest town to search for candy shops. 

 

She finally gets to make her spear, her mother’s hands guiding her.

 


End file.
